It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
The Clemson Insider has multiple official visitor updates and more below:
Khalil Barnes official visit update
Among the official visitors Clemson played host to this past weekend was North Oconee High School (Bogart, Ga.) athlete Khalil Barnes.
Barnes reopened his recruitment and decommitted from Wake Forest on Oct. 3. Clemson offered him as a safety on Sept. 22, and he was previously on campus at Clemson as an unofficial visitor for the Syracuse game in October.
This past weekend, Barnes was accompanied by his parents and sister, and he told TCI that everyone enjoyed the visit. His mom and dad have been to Tiger Town multiple times, like he has, but it was his sister’s first time there. The family arrived around midnight Friday following his high school game and departed around 3 or 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
The highlight of the visit for Barnes, he said, was going to Dabo Swinney’s house after the game — especially considering it was following the loss to South Carolina, and the fact he had never been to a head coach’s house before.
“Just seeing how he was open and had so many people there, it was pretty cool,” he said. “Especially after a loss, I don’t really think many people would be able to do that. Even with it being their recruiting weekend, a lot of coaches would try to sulk on the loss… Just being there, being with the whole Clemson family and their recruits, it was cool to see.”
Swinney and the staff, according to Barnes, emphasized to him that he’s a priority, the Tigers really want him and that he’s a need for them.
Barnes’ player host for the visit was senior safety Jalyn Phillips, and he enjoyed spending time with him as well.
Barnes is set to announce his commitment on Dec. 16, with Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma the stated finalists.
But this has been a battle between Clemson and Notre Dame. He officially visited Notre Dame the weekend that the Irish played the Tigers.
“It’s between them two,” he said. “It’ll be a tough one to choose between.”
We’ll publish the full story from our interview with Barnes about his visit in the morning.
Alabama RB ‘enjoyed everything’ about official visit
Another one of the official visitors this past weekend was Handley High School (Roanoke, Ala.) running back Jamarius Haynes (pictured above).
Haynes made his first-ever trip to Clemson for the Syracuse game on Oct. 22, when he picked up an offer from the Tigers. Clemson was his first offer, and he has since added offers from Washington State and Western Kentucky.
His parents, his little brother and his little cousin came with him on the official visit. His little brother didn’t want to leave, Haynes said, and he himself had a great experience throughout the visit as well.
“I enjoyed everything,” Haynes told TCI. “It was a great visit all around. Even the hotel they put us in was great, too.”
Haynes, like Barnes, mentioned going to Swinney’s house as the highlight of the visit. Haynes’ player host was Clemson running back and fellow Alabama native Domonique Thomas.
Haynes said the overall message from the coaches to him was “you can’t go wrong with going to a place like Clemson.” He feels his relationship with the coaches definitely got stronger over the weekend.
While Haynes doesn’t plan to be an early enrollee, he does plan to sign during the early signing period in December.
Where do the Tigers stand with him right now?
“My other two offers, they’re kind of far off, so our relationship hasn’t been able to build like Clemson has,” he said. “So, Clemson’s at the top definitely right now.”
Clemson’s first ’24 receiver offer returns to campus
The wide receiver prospect who collected Clemson’s first offer at his position, when the Tigers began dispensing offers to class of 2024 recruits back in June, was in attendance at Memorial Stadium for the South Carolina game last Saturday.
Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.) four-star Alex Taylor made the trip to campus with his parents. He told TCI that they loved the visit, and he enjoyed it very much as well despite the Tigers’ loss.
Taylor was able to spend time with coaches, including wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham, and Taylor said the best part of the visit for him was touring campus after the game with Clemson grad assistant Artavis Scott and Hugh M. Cummings High School (Burlington, N.C.) 2024 four-star wide receiver Jonathan Paylor.
Taylor and Paylor have become rather close during the recruiting process. They sat with one another when they were on hand for the NC State game at Clemson in October.
Paylor included Clemson in the top 10 he dropped earlier this month.
As for Taylor, he plans to release his top 10 schools after his ongoing junior football campaign. He told us Clemson remains one of his favorites.
Update on nation’s top linebacker after latest Clemson visit
We wanted to pass along an update on the nation’s top-ranked 2024 linebacker, Jefferson (Ga.) five-star Sammy Brown, who made his way back to campus for Saturday’s game.
Brown, the first 2024 recruit that Clemson offered regardless of position, traveled to Tiger Town with his little cousin and a friend.
It was bringing his little cousin along that Brown cited as the highlight of the trip.
“He’s a diehard Clemson fan,” Brown said, “so seeing his eyes light up at all the recruiting stuff was really cool.”
Brown said he came away very impressed by what Swinney said after the game about “not crumbling but using this (the loss) to motivate and move on to the next week.”
As for where the Tigers stand with Brown, he said he thinks they’re one of his favorites and he still really likes what they’re doing.
Brown also visited Clemson for the Furman and NC State games this season. He told us recently that the Tigers are among the suitors recruiting him the hardest right now, along with Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Bresee still undecided
When the season started, everyone thought Clemson redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Bresee would be in the 2023 NFL draft. None of us can imagine how hard the past few months have been for Bryan and his family. Now he faces a decision about his future that he didn’t think would be difficult months ago.
A return to Clemson is still possible for one of the nation’s best defensive tackles. Multiple sources tell TCI that Bresee has not made a decision yet on whether he will enter the NFL draft. He is torn on whether to enter the draft or make a return to the Tigers.
A healthy 2023 season where Bresee plays at his best could mean a top-five pick for Bresee. This one could still go either way from the sources we spoke to about the situation.
Latest on Ruke’s decision
Another of Clemson’s Avengers has a decision to make about his future. Ruke Orhorhoro has not made a decision yet according to multiple sources we have spoken with over the past week. Orhorhoro has had his best season as a Tiger and had a huge play leading to a safety against South Carolina on Saturday in Death Valley.
Orhorhoro has a huge upside and likely a long NFL career ahead of him. He has the potential to be a first-round pick with a big season if he returns in 2023. His draft stock would almost certainly be improved by another season, but he has already proven enough to get his NFL career started if he decides that is the best path.
If a couple of decisions go the right way, Clemson should once again have one of the top defensive lines in the nation next season.
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